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Monday, August 24, 2015Delicious World Fair Foods that will sure make your mouth water
Today, we focus much of our day around eating: who we are going to eat with, where we are going to eat at, what type of food we are in the mood for, and much more. Similarly, food was a very crucial component of the World Fairs. During the fairs, many exhibits had their own restaurants associated with them. Many foods, like Dr. Pepper and Aunt Jemima, were also debuted or popularized at the World Fairs since it was a great way to reach an enormous amount of people in a short period of time. In Chicago in 1893, the Midway was developed as an additional form of amusement and mockery of many foreign cultures that were very different than Americas. As time went on, these side fairs also began to have an array of restaurants that represented these cultures. Themed restaurants still exist and thrive today, like the Rainforest Cafe and places in Disney World. Restaurants and foods served at the actual fairs and at the Midways were an important way for visitors to see and experience different cultures (or their own). Through this guide, I am going to show you restaurants at various fairs, themed restaurants at the Midways, foods debuted at the fairs, and more.
Written by Emily Kurtz
Restaurants at the Fairs
Restaurants on the Midways
Geuine Chop Suey
Foods Debuted/Popularized
Foods and Restaurants Today
At the fairs, there were many restaurants. Many exhibits had their own restaurants, such as the French and German exhibits, as well as numerous additional restaurants scattered throughout the fair grounds. Visitors tried food of different nationalities.
The Midways began in 1893 and became an area of amusement for fair visitors. There were many restaurants options on the Midways, mainly themed and foreign.
Chop Suey was served at Chinese Restaurants on the Midways of most fairs. It could be made of genuine chicken and beef or imitation meat of some sorts. This dish is now a favorite among American Chinese Food.
Many foods, including Cream of Wheat, Cracker Jack, Aunt Jemima's Pancake Flour, Dr. Pepper, and Hot Dogs, were either shown for the first time or became popular at various World Fairs. The fairs were a great form of advertisement and getting the word out about certain items and products.
Although World Fairs and Midways are not popular today, we attend events and attractions, like sporting games and amusement parks, that have many of the same foods as was at the fairs. We also have themed restaurants and parks, like Epcot in Disney World, that act like Midways and fairs, helping visitors explore and try cuisine of a new world.
This Bill of Fare gives an overview of the branches that I explored for my project. The center and focus of my project was the Restaurants at the World Fairs. I hope you enjoy exploring and learning more!
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The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia set the stage for all future World Fairs in the United States. The Exposition's restaurants included the Grand American Restaurant, Southern Restaurant, German Restaurant, Dairy, Vienna Bakery Coffee-House, French Restaurant, Restaurant Lafayette, George's Hill Restaurant, Tea and Coffee Press Building, and New England Farmer's Home. Additionally, there were Turkish and Tunisian coffee houses, as well as numerous buffets, lunch counters, soda fountains, and popcorn and ice cream stands located throughout the grounds. Given that the Centennial Exposition was a celebration of 100 years s ince the s igning of the Declarat ion of Independence, it was to be expected that the Grand American Restaurant (#1) was the largest and most gorgeous of the restaurants at the Exposition, showing America's prominence, influence, and success. The Grand American Restaurant was built to be worthy of the American name. The 5,000-person restaurant was located near Agricultural Hall and a close walk from Horticultural Hall. It also contained a banquet hall, smoking rooms, bathrooms, and special dining rooms and parlors for ladies. There were also daily concerts performed by an orchestra for visitor's entertainment. The Southern Restaurant (#2) was located near the Women's Building and could hold 1,000 visitors. Only "colored men" were allowed to be waiters at the restaurant and music was performed by the "Old Plantation Darkey Band." The decorations, ambience, staff, and food were used to recreate the atmosphere that would've been on a Southern Plantation. Although slavery ended in 1863, many "colored men" worked after that in harsh conditions, farming in the South on plantations. The German Restaurant (#3), called Lauber's Restaurant after Philip Lauber, a known citizen of Philadelphia, served beer and German wines. It was the most successful restaurant on the grounds, largely due to Mr. Lauber.
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The Dairy (#4) was the simplest of the restaurants at the fair, constructed only of logs and a simple roof. It was operated by local Philadelphians, serving fresh milk, cream, buttermilk, and ice cream; it was a very popular place for a light refreshment. The Vienna Bakery (#5) was located near the French Government Building and the Reading Railroad Depot. Although the bakery and coffee-house only sold coffees, ices, chocolate, and bread, it continuously had lines of visitors waiting to see how the Viennese made their world renowned bread, using the German Yeast Press to make compressed yeast. This restaurant introduced a new machinery and type of bread, which resulted in a significant improvement to American bread after the Exhibition. Although pictures of George's Hill Restaurant, the Tea and Coffee Press Building, and New England Farmer's Home could not be found, they each had a unique feature that attracted visitors at the fair. George's Hill Restaurant was also called the Hebrew Restaurant because it was designed to attract "Hebrew" visitors to the exhibition. It served wines and liquors of Hungary and had Hungarian waiters in their national dress to show the different culture of Hungary. This also shows how, even in 1876, restaurants were still trying to attract certain visitors and get a specific consumer base. The Tea and Coffee House Building was created by Mr. Jonathan Miller to show his new and important invention of the tea and coffee press, which was unfamiliar to most at the time. This is very important because without his invention, we may not have the Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea that we know of today! Lastly, but definitely not least, the New England Farmer's Home showed how New England cooking has changed over the past 100 years. The food was cooked as it was 100 years ago and was served by women that were wearing old fashion attire. This restaurant really showed and embodied how far America has come since 1776!
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Finally, the last two restaurants at the Centennial Exhibition were French and were called Restaurant Lafayette (#6) and the French Restaurant (#7), also known as the Restaurant of the Trois Freres Provencaux. Restaurant Lafayette was two-stories high with the second floor being an open air pavilion. The French Restaurant was a one-story building, the interior of which can be seen in the picture below. It was created to replicate the Trois Freres Provencaux Restaurant of the Palais Royal in Paris and had a French proprietor, Louis Goyard. The restaurant was also at the Vienna Exhibition and contained the "finest delicacies" of the French cuisine, as well as the best wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. The portions were large and one could be expected to share. The walls were covered with tapestries of hunting scenes that were so elegant that they could've been displayed in one of the main exhibition buildings. Overall, both restaurants truly gave off a French ambience. Since the Exhibition was celebrating America's independence, it makes sense that there would be two French restaurants since the French helped our new nation defeat Great Britain in 1776. It is quite interesting though that there are two French restaurants and only one American! The next big fair in America was the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. At this fair, restaurants at the fairs began changing due to the existence of Midways!
At the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, the fair could serve 60,000 people with over 30 different choices of restaurants at a variety of different prices. The Wellington company was in charge of the restaurants in the 16 main buildings at the Exposition. They were required to have three levels of restaurants, that of leading hotels, street restaurants, and casual buffets or lunch counters. A sample example of the fare can be seen in the picture on the left. The most popular restaurants on the actual fair grounds included the Old Country Cookery (the British restaurant with plum pudding, roast beef, pickles, and more) and the New England "Clam Bake" (which showed the entire process of preparing and cooking fish, clams, lobster, and seaweed). Additionally, almost all of the foreign buildings had restaurants or concessions where they served national food by native staff, such as the Polish Cafe and Swedish Cafe.
The Midway had the largest number of restaurants, lunch counters, and dining rooms. Almost all of the structures on the Midway Plaisance had some sort of restaurant added by the time the fair was over. Some examples of Midway restaurants included the Hungarian Concert Cafe, Vienna Restaurant, Log Cabin Restaurant, and two German restaurants in the German Village. One could eat in a balloon hundreds of feet above the ground at the Balloon Cafe. People went to restaurants on the Midway to enter into another world, into a culture that was unfamiliar to them. It is very interesting to compare the restaurants on the Midway to those on the actual Fair grounds. Many of these restaurants in villages required a fee to enter since they were, in many ways, an exhibit of their own.
Following the Columbian Exposition, the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, New York in 1901 also had a Midway that included many exhibits, such as the Old Plantation, Fair Japan, Hawaiian Village, and the Filipino Village. The Midway had two large restaurants, one at the entrance and one on the South Midway, as well as a few restaurants and concessions in the individual villages. The Streets of Mexico had a restaurant that showed visitors native food and allowed
visitors to experience old and new Mexican life. They had pretty Mexican maidens serve
the food, and a menu that contained beans, hot tamales, and other spicy
foods. Although there were individual restaurants in some of the foreign villages on the Midway, it was not until the following fairs when restaurants
were located in every village or "land" on the midway.
Louisiana Purchase
Panama Pacific
These advertisements were for restaurants on the Pike and Zone at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 in St. Louis and the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915 in San Francisco. At these fairs, expositions and eating were closely aligned. At the Pike, there were restaurants with Aladdin's magic carpet, Filipino restaurant with a band, and the Parliament Restaurant of Ireland. The Japanese restaurant served tea cakes with the traditional Japanese ceremonies by Geisha girls in scarlet kimonos. At the "Crystal Cafe," one could fish for his dinner in the building's walls, which were made of two layers of glass that were filled with water and fish. There were restaurants of every genre and nationality with strange and foreign dishes advertised through flashy signs.
It was a favorite dish at the San Francisco Fair in 1915 and the Chicago Fair in 1933. Today, chop suey is a signature American Chinese dish that is served at most Chinese Restaurants in America. It is thought to have been invented in America by Chinese Americans, not actually from natives in China. It often includes chicken, beef, or pork and eggs, bean sprouts, celery, and noodles. Most items that we order from a Chinese take-out menu or restaurant have been altered or invented by Americans, similar to the invention of chop suey. The midway restaurants and their respective food represented America's views and take on different and foreign cultures.
Chop suey was on the menu at almost every Chinese Restaurant at World Fair Midways. At the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 in St. Louis, visitors could order chop suey made of chicken, beef, or "chop suey made from something else." The real chicken chop suey was $1, while not genuine chop suey was much cheaper. This was served by Chinese waiters wearing blue blouses and queues and was accompanied by guey birds-nest soup and bamboo sprouts. In order to dine correctly, visitors were supposed to eat with chop sticks; however, visitors could also use forks and knives if they wanted too. Chop suey was a very popular dish on the Pike. Similarly, Chop suey was served throughout Midways at many other fairs in the same manner.
Many foods that we love today first became known at the World Fairs. At the Centennial Exhibition of 1886 in Philadelphia, soda water and "sugar" popcorn were big hits. During the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, Cracker Jack, Cream of Wheat, Aunt Jemima's Pancake Flour, and Juicy Fruit were introduced to a large audience and gained popularity. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 in St. Louis popularized Dr. Pepper and Puffed Wheat. Additionally, many people think that hamburgers, hot dogs, peanut butter, iced tea, waffle ice-cream cones,and cotton candy were debuted at this fair. The fairs were truly the perfect stage; they presented an environment where the old and new were honored and could be admired by hundreds of thousands of people at one time. Each visitor could bring these new food fads with them from the fairs and introduce the phenomena to their friends and family back home. Although many items were sold simply at counters on the fair grounds, some foods had exhibits of their own. Aunt Jemima pancakes were made live for an audience at the Chicago Fair in 1893, and Puffed Wheat was shot out of eight bronze tubes into a giant cage at the St. Louis Fair in 1904.
Aunt Jemima's Pancake Flour was aggressively advertised at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Although Aunt Jemima did not create the recipe for the pancake flour, she became the face of the brand. Rutt and Underwood bought the Pearl Milling Company and created a prepared, self-rising pancake flour mix, which they called Aunt Jemima. After running out of money, Rutt and Underwood sold the secret recipe to the R.T. Davis Milling Company. They chose Nancy Green, who was a former slave in Kentucky, to play the role of "Aunt Jemima." At the fair, Aunt Jemima prepared pancakes in front of thousands of people. She was exceedingly friendly and a great story teller. At the fair, Nancy Green won a medal and was named the "Pancake Queen." After the fair, the Davis Milling Company got over 50,000 orders. Aunt Jemima made a legacy for her pancakes, as well as became an important African American figure.
Philadelphia 1876
My favorite ballpark and amusement park meal is a hot dog, fresh or caramel popcorn, and a fountain soda with soft-serve ice cream in cone or cotton candy for dessert. Even though fairs are not as popular and important as they used to be, the food that appeared during the fairs has a legacy that continues to live and thrive. Whenever you enter a sporting game, boardwalk, or carnival, th is same food i s being advertised in bold, flashy lights and signs everywhere you look. Simi l a r l y, the re a re s t i l l restaurants that are created as if they were at a fair of their own.
Epcot in Disney World is a great place to see themed restaurants that could've existed at the Fair or on Midways. When you visit Epcot in Disney World, you can get the true feeling of being at a World Fair. As a guide to Disney World says, "As you stroll around, you'll transition from one country to the next. While each "land" is next to the other, you'll never get the sense that you're in two places at once." Epcot's world showcase includes 11 countries, where each country lets you experience attractions from that "land." Each country has its own restaurant that shows native cuisine, architecture, and style. The Rose & Crown Dining Room is the United Kingdom is styled like a British pub and includes British fare, like fish and chips, bangers and mash, and toffee pudding. The restaurant in Germany is called "Biergarten" and is decorated to create an ambience similar to Oktoberfest with traditional German cuisine, including bratwurst and apple strudel. Both parents and kids love Epcot because it is a way for them to "see" and "experience" the entire world without hopping on a plane or any form of transportation. Each country's exhibit is really independent and creates the necessary ambience to truly allow visitors to enter a new world. People attended the World Fairs for all of the same reasons!
Overall, I had a lot of fun examining the restaurants and foods that were at the World Fairs. I never realized how prevalent the fairs were to my life. I frequently eat cotton candy and hot dogs when I go to Phillies Games. I had a hamburger food truck for my high school graduation party. It is amazing that I know of and eat these foods today because of the fairs! When I used to eat at a restaurant or go food shopping, I never used to think about its history or how people heard of it. Now, I understand how just one product can tell you so much about a particular culture, history, and the environment at the time it was invented or started through today. Learning about the World Fairs in this class has showed me how interesting and relevant this information is, and how much the world needed events like the fairs to broadcast important information, products, cultures, and, of course, food.
Smithsonian World Fair's and Expositions: Visions for TomorrowThe University of Pennsylvania Rare Books Collection
Page 2, Aunt Jemima's Pancakes, http://www.auntjemima.comPage 2, Hotdog, Soda, and Fries, http://www.gothamburgers.com/sandwhich.htmlPage 9, Chop Suey, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chop_sueyPage 9, Chop Suey, http://recipegreat.com/1429-chop-suey.htmlPage 10, Dr. Pepper, http://www.drpeppermuseum.com/about-us/history-of-dr--pepper.aspxPage 10, Cream of Wheat, http://tinyurl.com/CreamWheatPage 10, Juicy Fruit, http://www.kalyx.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=16435Page 12, Soda Water Fonts, http://www.1001fonts.com/grunge-fonts.htmlPage 13, Cotton Candy, http://tinyurl.com/pzk78djPage 13, Midway Cafe, http://tinyurl.com/MidwayCafePage 13, Hotdogs, http://california.legoland.com/en/explore/dining/fun_town_hot_dog/Page 14, All Epcot information and pictures, http://tinyurl.com/2fwdeapPage 15, Phillies Hot Dog, http://philliesballgirls.mlblogs.com/2012/05/Page 15, Ice Cream Cone, http://www.brustersannapolis.com/content/treats